Joseph m



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH M. DUNCAN, OF WARSAW, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'TO HIMSELF AND EBEN O.MCNAIR, OF SAME PLACE.

SALT-HOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,360, dated July 14,1885.

Application'filed March 16, 1885.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOSEPH M.DUNCAN, of Warsaw, in the county of Wyomingand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inSalt-Hoppers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon.

1n the manufacture of salt much annoyance,

together with great expense and loss of time,

results from the fact that, the salt, unlike grain, will not feedregularly, even if placed in a hopper having very steep sides, as itbridges over and hangs together in such a mass as to require constantagitation to feed it regularly into the elevator-buckets, and this facthas heretofore necessitated the constant attendance of one person ateach hopper, at considerable expense where many hoppers were used. It istherefore my object to do away with the expense attending the presenceof a man at each hopper, and at the same time provide means forfeedingjthe salt continuously and regularly into the elevator; and thenovelty of my invention consists in the combined construction andarrangement of a shoe in the bottom of the hopper and means forsupporting said shoe, together with a series of knockers, and means forregulating the blow of said knockers, all as more fully hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

For a better understanding of my improvements, reference should be hadto the accompanying drawings, in whicha Figure 1 is a side elevation ofa chain of elevator-buckets, combined with a salt-hopper embracing myimprovements, partly in section Fig. 2, a detail plan view of the shoeused in any desired shape, arranged independently of (No model.)

the end where the salt is fed into the elevatorbuckets. These extendedsides b b b form an inclosure around the outside of the lower portion ofthe hopper and prevent the escape of salt at any point except at the endwhere it passes out into the elevator-buckets.

D D are two or more triangular or other an gular-shaped knockers,secured to a shaft, E, arranged transversely under the bottom of theshoe 0, with any proper end bearings, and with belt or gear connectionwith the driving power. One or more irons, c, are secured transverselyto the bottom of the shoe 0, within convenient reach of the knockers,against which the iron or irons of the shoe are pressed by the springsto a, acting in conjunction with the preponderance of weight of thesalt, and on the revolution of the shaft E these knockers strike thisiron or irons and cause the shoe to vibrate and feed the ,saltcontinuously and regularly from the hopper into the elevatorbuckets. Tothe bottom of the shoe, at any convenient point, is attached one end ofa rope or strap, F, which passes around a pulley, 11, located outside ofthe hopper, and then up to a shaft, G, where its upper end is securelyfastened. This shaft has bearings in a beam, H, and is provided with ahand-crank and a pawl and ratchet, e e, respectively. By turning thecrank of this shaft the shoe may be either drawn back or allowed to moveforward to regulate the blow of the knockers, and thereby in turnregulate the feed of the salt. I Instead of arranging the crank with itspawl and ratchet above, as herein described, these parts may be arrangedparallel to the knocker-shaft, in which instance the pulley could bedispensed with.

It will be apparent that where a series of hoppers are arranged in a rowone knockershaft and one set of feedregulating devices, together withone set of gearing, will suliice for the whole series.

Among the advantages asserted for my improvements are, that they aresimple and cffective, and can be applied to a single hopper or to aseries of hoppers at a very small expense compared with that attendingthe hire ofv a man for each hopper.

Having thus described my invention and set forth its objects, togetherwith some of its advantages, What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. The combinatiomwith a hopper, of an elastically-supported bottom, aset of angular knocking devices, and a pawl-and-ratchet mechanism havingintermediate connections with said bottom' for regulating the blow'ofthe knockers, substantiallyas described.

2. The hopper A, having the inclined independent shoe or bottom (3, andthe springs a a, secured to the floor or other support, and to the underside of said shoe or bottom at its front and rear ends, substantially asdescribed and shown.

its angular knockers D, and pawl-and-ratchet 3o mechanism havingintermediate connections with the shoe or bottom 0, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH M. DUNCAN.

Witnesses:

E. 0. MONAIR, WM. H. MoOoNNELL,

